Yashwant Sonawane Killing Case: Accused freed on bail

Mumbai , Jun 3: Months after oil mafia set Yashwant Sonawane, the additional Collector on fire, all the 10 main accused in the case have been granted bail as they were not charge-sheeted by prosecutors.

There was an outrage across the nation when Sonwane was burnt alive in broad daylight by oil mafia in Manmad on Jan 25. After the case was investigated for more than two months, the police successfully nabbed 10 people. Popat Shinde, the main accused was dead after he died of burns during the attack.

The family members of Sonwane requested the case to be investigated by the CBI after which the case was handled by CBI with no success.

One accused in the case was granted bail on Feb 22 while two more were freed on Apr 2.

The government had announced to compensate the family of the victim by paying them Rs 25 lakhs and promised that Sonwane would get his salary till his actual age of retirement. The government also expressed its concern over the accused roaming freely.

"From records it appears that he was a habitual offender," said Milind Bhrambe, SP, Nashik.

"Despite his name being in the records, he was working openly. We need to probe this," said Revenue Minister, Balasaheb Thorat.

A parallel has been drawn between the way Sonwane and Manjunath Shanmugham, Indian Oil Corporation executive was killed by the petrol mafia in 2005.